In recent years, farmers have recognized the need to select and maintain the proper planting depth to ensure the proper seed environment (e.g., temperature and moisture) and seedling emergence. To improve agronomic practices, it would also be desirable for the farmer to understand the relationship between actual planting depth and metrics such as emergence and yield. Conventional agricultural planters include only apparatus for adjusting a maximum planting depth, which may not be maintained during operation due to soil conditions or insufficient downpressure on the planter row unit. Even in operation of modern planters having sensors for determining whether full trench depth has been lost, the actual depth planted is still not determined. Thus there is a need for systems, methods and apparatus for controlling and/or measuring the depth of a trench opened by an agricultural planter.